Anche Oggi
by neko-nya
Summary: Throughout the years, he'd always received that one message over and over again from that same annoying person, so what's he supposed to do when the calls stop coming? D18 oneshot.


Anche Oggi

His phone rang.

It was the one ringtone he had other than his middle school's anthem.

Without sparing the device a glance, he decided not to pick up, he knew what the message was going to be anyways.

For as long as he could remember Hibari had received at least one voicemail a day, each containing the same message over and over again. Sometimes it came in the form of a text message, other days he actually picked up his phone when his school's anthem played and his caller-ID flashed that one name over and over again. And of course, there were the times where he couldn't escape it and had to endure it face to face.

It was always that same message over and over again.

"I love Kyouya today too!"

It was always that one line in its many variations that was repeated to him.

* * *

_The messages probably started ten years ago when he started training with Dino. At the end of every session, after working up liters and liters of sweat, blood and tears on the Cavallone's part, the elder would shoot him that sunny smile of his and give an approving nod that he disregarded, "You worked hard today too, Kyouya."_

_It annoyed him._

"_I'll bite you to death."_

_The blond would just laugh and shake his head, "You've already had a turn today, you can try again tomorrow."_

_And for some reason, he always let it off at that, not bothering to continue their fight. Maybe it was because the other was right, though he'd never admit it, there was always tomorrow. _

_Somewhere along the way, the 'you worked hard today too' turned into 'I love you today too'. Even though he couldn't exactly place when the shift occurred, he was pretty sure it was around the time the herbivore randomly tried to go all Italian on him._

* * *

"_Kyouya," that singsong voice and sunny smile again._

_He glanced over and was caught off guard. Instead of a whip flying at him, lips covered his own. Sputtering, he pushed the older boy off and backed up, one of those rare moments where he lost his composure, "w-what!?"_

_The Cavallone remained unfazed though, he just smiled apologetically, "that's what we do in Italy. We kiss each other on the cheek, but you turned around so-"_

_A tonfa immediately appeared and attempted to clear his face off with a growl, "I'll bite you to death."_

_Luckily for Dino, his subordinates were around and so, he was able to dodge the attack with ease. He laughed, though a tint of embarrassment could be heard in his voice, "Sorry Kyouya, I guess that wasn't so much a gesture of hello as opposed to a proclamation of love, hm? I suppose this would be a good time to tell you that I love you today."_

_The way the blond worded it left him a little dumbfound and confused, but he covered it up with a frown, "Stop being an herbivore."_

_For some reason, the other always seemed to understand the meaning behind his words and explained himself, "I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or the day after, and Kyouya would get angry if I make promise that I couldn't keep, right?"_

_Hibari narrowed his eyes, wasn't that obvious? Only an idiot would make impossible promises._

_Dino took his silence as agreement and curled his lips upward, "so if I say 'today', you can't get mad at me for saying it, right? It seems that I'll just have to tell you everyday, won't I? I'll never make you a promise I can't keep, Kyouya." His eyes held a solemn glint to them even as he smiled, "prometto."_

_As logical as it seemed, it was still annoying. He scoffed and whipped out his tonfas, wanting to wipe that bashful grin off the other's face, "shut up and fight already, you herbivore."_

_And almost immediately, the sunny, confident grin returned to the blonde's face as he took the challenge as approval of his confession, "you're right, let's."_

* * *

Even ten years later, the messages kept coming, day after day. And for some reason, he never deleted any of them, rationalizing to himself that it was too troublesome to go through his phone to purge _all_ of the blonde's messages. He never bothered changing the ringtone that Dino had set for him either, he always told himself it was to filter which calls to ignore and which ones to pick up.

His phone rang again.

He never did figure out when Dino managed to change his ringtone.

* * *

"_**Kyouya, it's Dino calling! You should definitely pick up, you know I get worried when you don't pick up! Don't ignore my calls! Oi Kyouya!"**_

_Hibari blinked. _

_His phone in his pocket was vibrating and shaking, but he couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. How did it know it was the blond calling? Was he somewhere around? Looking around, there was no one around, so he fished his phone out of his pocket to see one missed call from Dino. Then it suddenly rang again._

"_**Kyouya, it's Dino calling! You should def-"**_

_Narrowing his eyes, he contemplated breaking the phone but decided that it was the blond that he should be killing, not the phone, so he picked up and snarled, "I'm going to bite you to death."_

* * *

Deciding that it was rare for the Italian to call twice in a row, he picked up right before the call got directed to voicemail. "Hello?"

"_Kyouya? What a surprise, you actually picked up!"_

He frowned, "do you need something?"

"_I just wanted to tell you that I'll be coming to Japan tomorrow, so I'll finally get to see you after all these months."_

Hibari narrowed his eyes, "that's it? I'll bite you to death."

The other laughed, _"I love you today too, Kyouya!"_

Another reason he never picked up was because he never knew how to respond to the Italian's proclamations, "…I'll bite you to death."

* * *

He was sitting there, ready to enjoy his meal when there was a loud and intrusive "hey Kyouya, did you miss me?"

His brow twitched in annoyance, "how can anyone miss you when you call them everyday, herbivore? And furthermore, that annoying ringtone of yours…"

The blond beamed, "really? You haven't changed it even after all these years?" He ran over and hugged the younger man tightly with a laugh, "you have no idea how happy you make me, Kyouya!"

Hibari remained indifferent to the gesture, he'd gotten used to it after ten long years, "And your Japanese is still crooked. Get off me or I'll bite you to death."

Dino let go, knowing that the other was serious, but the smile was still there. "You haven't changed at all after all these years, Kyouya. Here, I bought you a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, I know you don't like alcohol that much but this is supposed to be really, really good, and you always drink wine with me in Italy so I figured it'd be nice to bring some here just so you can have some every now and then."

He shrugged and had Kusakabe take the bottle away. After a long pause, he sighed, "what? Are you going to be eating here?"

The blond shook his head, "Sorry, I promised Tsuna that I'd go see him and go through a bit of paperwork."

Stormy eyes looked up, annoyed, "then stop crowding and go to the herbivore."

The Cavallone must've sensed his disappointment because he smiled apologetically, "after today, I promise I'll eat with you everyday until I have to leave, is that alright, Kyouya?"

Even though he hated to admit it, he felt a little better. "Just leave already!"

Dino laughed, "You're right, I'll go now," and on his way out, he turned back, "hey Kyouya."

He shot him a glare, "what?"

"I love you today too."

* * *

"_**Kyouya, it's Dino calling! You should definitely pick up, you-"**_

He picked up, "what?"

"_You really __**are**__ still using that ringtone!"_

Blinking he raised a brow, "what?"

Then the door opened, revealing the Cavallone, an amused smirk on his face, "sorry, I thought you were joking about keeping that ringtone so I wanted to check." Impervious to the other's murderous aura and tonfas, he dodged the other's attack and held his hands up in defeat, "I'm sorry, I was curious!"

Hibari snarled and held his weapons up, "I'll bite you to death."

A moment later, a whip was wrapped around his arm and he was reminded that he was facing a mafia leader. The elder shook his head, "Maybe later. Actually, I was hoping we'd go out and eat something, you know, to make up for yesterday."

Pausing, he took another swipe at the other, "I don't want to."

Taking a step back to avoid the hit, the blond sighed, "You never change, do you? Fine, we'll go eat after a round. Really, I need to stop spoiling you, Kyouya."

"Stop mingling and let's fight."

"I love you today too."

"I'll bite you to death."

It was the only way he knew how to confess his love back.

And for some reason, Dino never had trouble understanding him.

* * *

The third day into Dino's stay, the two of them were sitting around and eating in Hibari's hideout. He glanced up from his food, "you got here unexpectedly fast." Looking at the mess the other was making, he grunted disapprovingly, "why are you even eating here if you still can't use chopsticks…?"

The blond paused mid-scoop, and put his chopsticks down, "what do you mean? Of course I'd come running, it was the first time I'd ever gotten a call from you so I thought something bad happened."

Hibari raised a brow, "that's not the first time I've called."

"It definitely was, I'd never forget a call from you! When did you manage to get a hold of my phone anyways?"

"What do you mean?"

"That was definitely the first time you called, I mean, how am I supposed to forget something like this?" The Italian held his phone up, _**"Pick up or I'll bite you to death."**_

He smirked and shrugged, "I figured I should return the favor."

"It only works if you actually call me, Kyouya."

"Don't need to," he muttered, going back to eating. If he overused it, then the other wouldn't come running in a state of panic.

Dino sighed, "You're right, I'm going to end up calling you everyday anyways, so all you really have to do is pick up. But that was a very pleasant surprise, thank you, Kyouya."

Looking away in embarrassment, he snorted, "…shut up, you're annoying."

The other merely smiled as they ate in silence until the elder man's phone rang. Amber eyes blinked, "sorry, I should take this. Romario wouldn't call without a good reason."

"Then pick it up already," he snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Sì, Romario? Is something wrong? …che cosa!?" The blond turned away with a serious look on his face, and began muttering in Italian. After ten years, Hibari managed to pick up a few of the sentences, and from what he understood; the situation the mafia leader was facing was a grave one. The other dipped his head, "…capisco, ciao."

Curiously, he watched the older man, "what was that about?"

Dino frowned, "there's trouble back in Italy, family issues, one of the branch families are stirring up problems…"

He held back his sigh, speaking tightly, "and you have to go back."

The blond must've managed to sense his disappointment again, because he pursed his lips guiltily as he stood up, "I'm sorry Kyouya, Romario's on his way over now. I was hoping I'd be able to at least finish this meal with you but…"

Hibari scoffed and followed after, "with the way _you_ eat, your family will be dead by the time you finish."

"Mi dispiace," he shot the brunet a rueful smile and leaned in for a light kiss before heading for the door, "ti amo anche oggi, Kyouya."

He didn't want to look at the other's retreating back so he turned away with his arms crossed as he called out, "ti morderò da morire."

As always, only Dino was able to read into his words and dig out the hidden meaning.

There was a soft laugh, "I love you too…ciao, Kyouya."

His fists balled up as he listened to the door sliding shut.

* * *

With Dino's regular calling patterns, it was only natural for Hibari to grow anxious when a day passed without that annoying ringtone going off, though he'd never admit it out loud. He quickly grew annoyed with his newly developed habit of checking his phone every hour, and decided to calm himself down by taking a walk with Hibird flying happily above him, singing his middle school's anthem.

It wasn't until a few days later that he took the initiative to call the Bucking Horse, waiting for the other to pick up and apologize profusely for forgetting to call. But when no one picked up, it was then that he decided to make a trip to Italy.

"Hibari, Hibari, worried? Worried?"

He glared at his bird, "who'd worry about that herbivore? I'm going there to bite him to death for not answering my call."

* * *

He couldn't find anything on the first day. After sending his bird off, he scoured Dino's hideout which had been thoroughly terrorized, the bodies of his men scattered the area, he even dialed the Cavallone's number in hopes of locating at least his body, but it was to no avail. Hibari took a deep breath and stepped into what used to be the blonde's office and felt something akin to dread building up in him as he found the lifeless body of Romario lying on the ground.

On the second day, he received a call from Reborn, "Akanbou?"

"_Come back to Japan, Hibari."_

His brows furled, "what do you mean?"

"_I know why you're in Italy, and I'm telling you, come back to Japan. It's no use. The Cavallone family's been wiped out."_

Hibari could feel his throat dry up the moment he heard it, and it took him a moment to find his words, "what?"

"_I just heard from Squalo that there was an uprising in the lower Cavallone branches and they've managed to wipe the main family out."_

In the background, he could hear the tenth protesting, _"Reborn, that can't be right, Dino-san's strong!"_

"_Don't be stupid Tsuna, he's only strong with his family around. How can you expect him to do anything right when he doesn't have a family anymore? Did you hear that, Hibari? Hurry up and get back to Japan so we can get to the bottom of this."_

His eyes darkened, "what are you saying, Akanbou? Even if it's an order from you, I won't accept it. Do you think I'm here to mingle? I'll bite everyone here to death, and when I find the Bucking Horse, I'm going to bite him to death too."

* * *

By the third day, he'd infiltrated the enemy's headquarters and beaten everyone in sight. Picking the leader up by the collar, he snarled, "Where's the Bucking Horse?"

The man waved his hands frantically, "I don't know, he was kept in the room over there but I ordered my men to dispose of him earlier! He's probably bleeding out in some alley as we speak."

Dropping the man, he held his tonfas up and spoke coldly, "Then I have no further use for you."

After he was finished with the man, he kicked down to the door the leader had pointed at and looked around. It was empty except for the blood splatters and a very familiar jacket. Walking in, he leaned down and grabbed the coat and left.

* * *

He sent out search parties after his raid. There were men in suits scattered all over the area in hopes of locating a single blond. And in the end, it was Hibird that found him. "Hibari, Hibari, Dino, Dino!"

Hibari got up and grabbed his jacket, "let's go."

The little yellow bird fluttered down the streets, "beaten, beaten! Dino, beaten!"

A frown etched his lips as he ran out of his room and onto the streets. Awhile later, the bird finally led him down a quiet path and turned into a narrow alleyway, "Dino, Dino!"

His pace slowed down until he came to a halt in front of a motionless figure sitting in a pool of his blood against a brick wall. The damage that'd been done to the blond exceeded even _his_ expectations for cruelty, and for the first time in his life, he felt his stomach do a little flip at the sight. His expression remained impassive as he stared at the blond, arms dangling limply at his side, he called out, "…Cavallone…"

There was no reply.

"…Dino…"

Silence.

His wrapped his hands around his tonfas as tight as he could as he muttered, "…this isn't fair. I was the one who was supposed to bite you to death…"

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he stood there, staring at the body until something caught his eye. The older man's cellphone was in his hand, and the time was still running. _Nine hours, fifty-seven minutes and twenty-one seconds, twenty-two, twenty-three…_ He took the phone out of the other's cold hand and ended the call.

Suddenly, a buzz came from his pocket, _**"Kyouya, it's Dino calling! You should definitely pick up, you know I get worried when you don't pick up! Don't ignore my calls! Oi Kyouya!"**_

Too stunned by the voice, all he could do was stand there frozen. After a moment, he realized that the blond had been recording a message and he'd just sent it to himself. Slowly, he took his own phone out and looked.

_One new voicemail._

Holding his phone up to his ear, he listened.

"…_Kyouya…it seems that someone beat you to biting me to death…I guess I really am an herbivore, hn? …I couldn't protect my family…I couldn't even return your calls…these past few days…even though I didn't call, I loved you then too. I was happy you called. And right now, being left with nothing, I'm just sorry I won't be able to be with you anymore…Kyouya…I-"_

He listened as footsteps approached, _"What's this? Still not dead?"_

"_-day too…"_

_**Bang.**_

There was a soft thud.

"_Make sure he's dead this time."_

_**Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Click. Click.**_

"…_that's good, he's definitely dead, let's go."_

The footsteps faded and then there was silence.

* * *

A few days passed before he talked to another person. It was Tsuna who looked devastated, "Hibari-san, I'm so sorry, you and Dino-san-"

He snorted and turned around and began walking away, "he was my prey, that's all. It's his own fault for being an herbivoire and getting killed like that."

"…his funeral's next week."

"I hate mingling."

The tenth nodded understandingly, "oh right…where are you going?"

Without sparing a look back, he walked out the door, "I'm going to go bite the people that stole my prey to death. I missed two apparently."

* * *

Hibari didn't attend Dino's funeral the following week. No, while the rest of the Vongola family made their way to Italy, he went back to Japan where he laid, staring at the sky from Namimori Junior High's roof, the place he'd met the blond in the first place. There, with the jacket he'd kept and the bottle of wine the blond had given him, he listened to all the voicemails that had accumulated over the years and deleted them one by one. And as he listened, he wondered what he would've done differently if he'd seen this coming.

"_Kyouya, why don't you ever pick up your phone?"_

He wouldn't complain about the Italian's crooked Japanese.

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, I love you today too."_

He wouldn't attack him every time he saw him.

_**Delete.**_

"_Boss, it's time to go!"_

"_Just a moment, Romario! I'm trying to leave a message for Kyouya!"_

He'd show a little more appreciation for the gifts he received.

_**Delete.**_

"_I love you today too!"_

He wouldn't complain about the other's inability to use chopsticks.

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, sorry I know it's late, but I was busy today…"_

He wouldn't mind how rare the visits became.

_**Delete.**_

"_Do you miss me, Kyouya?"_

He wouldn't stay silent and answer honestly that _yes, he __**did**__ miss him._

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, I might be able to come to Japan next week!"_

He'd tell him to stay longer when he visited.

_**Delete.**_

"_Il mio amore, I wonder what you're thinking about right now…"_

He'd tell him honestly that he preferred being confessed in person as opposed to over the phone.

_**Delete.**_

"_I love you today too, Kyouya…"_

And maybe every now and then, he'd even say it back. _I love you too…it's just for today though._

_**Delete.**_

"_You know, I'm always about you, especially during meetings."_

He wondered how the blond would react to it. Bewilderment? Excitement? Happiness?

_**Delete.**_

"_It's been raining all day, I wish you were here, Kyouya."_

But none of his promises or thoughts mattered _now_.

_**Delete.**_

"_Wouldn't it be nice to go somewhere, for a vacation or something? Just the two of us-gah! …and maybe Romario too?"_

_**Delete.**_

"_Ne, I love you today too, Kyouya."_

_**Delete.**_

"_The meeting was really boring today! All I could think of was how nice it'd be to be in Japan right now…"_

_**Delete.**_

"_Hey Kyou-"_

"_Voiii!"_

"_Squalo!? What are you doing here!?"_

"_I was bored so I figured it'd be fun to relive the good old times when I made you cry at school."_

"_W-what!? I don't want to!"_

"_It's no use, your men aren't around!"_

"_R-Romario! Where'd you go!?"_

"_Ah, how nostalgic!"_

"_No! Stop it! Romario, help me!"_

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, I hope you didn't catch that bug that's going around."_

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, let's go flower watching the next time I come visit! Oh, you don't like sakura, do you?"_

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, I heard about the typhoon hitting Japan, you're alright, aren't you?"_

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, I wonder how you are."_

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, when will you visit me?"_

_**Delete.**_

"_Kyouya, I love you today too."_

_**Delete.**_

_Kyouya,_

_Kyouya,_

_Kyouya…_

"Kyouya, Kyouya!"

His eyes snapped opened and he sat up with a jolt, wondering when he drifted off. He returned his attention back to his phone and wondered when he'd gotten down to the last message.

"…_I'm just sorry I won't be able to be with you anymore…Kyouya…"_

His finger was hovering over the button to erase the message forever, but instead, he looked over at the little yellow bird and held his finger out for the creature to land on, "what'd you call me just now?"

Hibird perched onto his finger and cocked his head, "Kyouya, Kyouya! Ti amo anche oggi! Anche oggi!"

Gray eyes widened, "really, you…out of all things to say…" he choked on his next words as he found himself on the verge of crying for the first time he remembered. Covering his eyes with his sleeves, all he could see was the smiling blond.

"_I love you today too, Kyouya!"_

Shaking those thoughts away, he looked over at the bottle of wine.

"_It's supposed to be really, really good…"_

Pulling the cork off, he took a swig and winced, because instead of the sweet taste of aged grapes, all he could taste was bitter farewells and separation.

Putting the bottle down, he lay back down. Holding the jacket close, he tried to drown out reality by watching clouds pass by, and before he knew it, he'd drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"_Kyouya."_

_That annoying singsong voice…_

_Cold hands covered his eyes. He gave an annoyed grunt, "what? If you're going to intrude in on my dreams, the least you can do is warm your hands up."_

_A soft laugh, "sorry. How do you know you're dreaming anyways?"_

_He snorted, "Because you're dead. What do you want?"_

"_I was surprised that you drank the wine I gave you…"_

_Whether the person behind was real or not, he didn't feel like elaborating on the emotions he felt which were a little too similar to grief for his liking, "is that it? I'll bite you to death."_

"_How was it?"_

"_Disgusting."_

_The other replied with disappointment laced in his voice, and in his mind, he could see a pout forming on the other's lips. "Really? That's the first time I've heard someone complain about it, that's too bad, I was hoping that you'd enjoy it too…"_

"_Why are you covering my eyes?"_

"_I'm sorry, Kyouya," a cold body pressed up gently against his, "just bear with it for now…I don't want you to see me like this."_

_He could feel himself shivering at the lack of warmth, "like what?" After a moment, he gave an exasperated frown, "…you're such an herbivore…I've already seen your dead body in that alley. I stood in front of it for hours."_

_The hand remained as it was while the other apologized again, "sorry Kyouya, next time. Next time we meet, I'll be warmer and it won't just be in your dreams, I promise."_

_"Stop apologizing, it's annoying." Slowly, he placed a hand over the one blocking his vision, it felt like ice and he felt slightly unsettled when he found it wet. The liquid was too thick to be water, but he kept his hand there regardless, after all, he was anything but squeamish when it came to blood. "it's fine, as long as you promise. The next time we meet, I'll definitely be the one who'll bite you to death." _

_A soft kiss was placed on his head, "allora, fino al nostro prossimo incontro…ti amo, Kyouya, oggi, domani, dopodomani e giorno dopo anche, ti amerò per sempre. Prometto." _

* * *

He opened his eyes groggily and found them wet. Sitting up to wipe the tears away, he blinked when he realized that Dino's jacket had somehow ended up draped over him. He looked up, the sky was still bright and he pulled out his phone and looked at the last voicemail, the only one left on the device.

"…_I'm just sorry I won't be able to be with you anymore…Kyouya…I-"_

_**Delete**_.

A smile tugged at his lips as he clutched the coat tightly and erased the final trace of Dino from his phone. He didn't mind having to wait to hear that voice again if it meant he'd get to hear it directly from the blond.

After all, Dino never made promises he couldn't keep.

* * *

Nya~

Yay, my first KHR fanfic! Hm, I don't have much to say actually...but it was fun typing and I'm sorry I suck at summaries! Took like a week of editing since it didn't sound right or some reason...oh and if my Italian's a little off, sorry, I'm still far from fluent. But general translations would be:

_Prometto_: I promise.  
_Che cosa?:_ What?  
_Capisco_: I understand.  
_Mi dispiace_: I'm sorry.  
_Ti amo anche oggi_: I love you today too.  
_Ti morderò da morire_: I'll bite you to death.  
_Allora, fino al nostro prossimo incontro_: Then, until the next time we meet.  
_Ti amo, oggi, domani, dopodomani e giorno dopo anche, ti amerò per sempre_: I love you, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and the day after that too, I'll love you forever.

Capisci? Hopefully this was relatively saddening and whatnot. All in all, hope you enjoyed!


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